PJ Hogan's Mental tale

Have you ever thought we all spend too much time pretending to be normal when, really, our lives are much more extraordinary than we let on?

Well, after years of servicing the US film market, acclaimed writer-director PJ Hogan, creator of Muriel's Wedding, has returned to his childhood stomping ground with a star studded cast to produce his new autobiographical film Mental.

Through the Moochmores, Mental tells the story of PJ's life when, at age 12, his mother Shirley (Rebecca Gibney), disillusioned and battered by her inability to maintain the affection of her husband, breaks down and is sent to an institution.

His father, Mayor Moochmore (Anthony LaPaglia) tells the kids she's gone on holidays to Wollongong and picks up Shaz (Toni Collette), a dog-owning, rollie-smoking, hitchhiker with a hunting knife in her boot and mad look in her eye, to look after the kids.

"The events in the film actually took place; the character played by Toni Collette is based on a real person," said Hogan.

"When I was 12, my mother had a complete nervous breakdown and we got up one morning and she was gone.

"We went to my dad, who was a very formidable figure, a local politician, at that time running for re-election.

"We just said: 'Where's breakfast? Where's mum?' And he just said: 'She's on holiday that's the official story, so stick to it.' And we did.

"To be fair to my dad, we were total ratbags not only did we drive my mum crazy but we drive my dad to breaking point."

Enter Shaz (Collette) who told him" "What makes you eccentric and wrong in this small town that you're living in could turn out to be what's normal about you."

It's a message that's stayed with him throughout his life.

Mental challenges notions of normality and conformity as much as it does people's perceptions of mental health.

Hogan's sister has schizophrenia, his brother has bipolar disorder, and they are happy to have their stories shared because their brother does it with compassion.

Hogan doesn't care if the film does well overseas, saying he doesn't need a calling card to the US and has spent enough time entertaining America.

He says he would rather work on something unashamedly Australian.

"We can only tell Australian stories and so often those stories turn out to be universal."